Well, reports are that this years’ Knog Muddy Hell lived up to it’s name and the video above by Olly Townsend proves it. Over 350 racers braved the cold and rainy CX race this past weekend in South London – with over 70 racers in the Under 12 category (cool!) Gallery photos of the racers and costumed attendees can be found here via AEPhotos, and a pic of the race course carnage the day after, after the break.
That is an impressively muddy and mucky course, but only 350 riders in a place the size of London is pretty wimpy turnout. In Portland, with a fraction of the population the Blind Date at the Dairy Wednesday series gets 400 riders some nights http://obra.org/events/20852/results and the PIR Cross Crusade race had almost 350 riders in the men’s cat C alone http://obra.org/events/20821/results.
Although London is pretty huge, the site that the race is held in (the only still-in-use venue from the 1946 London Olympics) is pretty tiny and so won’t cope with fields of more than about 100 people. My guess is also that a lot of potential racers baled on the night (like I did – hence filming instead) – the rain was pretty torrential and it was only around 5 or 6 degrees C. Luckily the spectator turnout was impressive and even in the pouring rain the atmosphere was fab.
Olly is right, the race sells out pretty quick, there is demand for more places. The site (Herne Hill Velodrome) although fantastic in many respects is small, which means we have a relatively small course limit but there isn’t any other suitable venue in such a central location within London . Even though the weather this year was harsh, nearly all the riders turned out to race & the few places that were left were filled by the reserve list.
